SDF - SFO, 7/29 to 8/3 -- Advice Requested

[whataboutbob]

First, the itinerary: SDF to SFO, departing 7/29/08 and returning 8/3/08.

Cheapest retail price I can find is $346 (ticket) + $41 (taxes & fees), which includes a red-eye flight back.

My dates are firm but the actual times are extremely flexible, so that aspect of the bidding doesn't bother me. Also, there are NO direct flights from SDF to SFO, therefore I'd be stuck with a layover no matter how I book my flight. For both these reasons, bidding through Priceline appears to be a viable option.

My maximum bid, including taxes and fees, would be $300. Otherwise, I'll book directly through an airline and choose my departure times. I've bid on hotels before but this would be a first for airfare. Oh, and I've read through the Priceline Airfare Re-Bidding thread, which was quite helpful.

All that said, I'm hesitating on actually bidding because I need 2 seats together.

So here are my questions for those with more experience:

Question 1: If I purchase tickets through Priceline's Name Your Own Price system, can I choose my seats via the airline since I highly doubt Priceline provides this option?

Question 2: If choosing actual seats is a possibility, can that be done at any point after the purchase or only once I've checked in online within the 24-hour window?

Any and all advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

P.S. Sorry to be so long-winded on my first post. Trying to find reasonably priced airfare is driving me crazy. :)

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Current at time of post from PRICELINE's website:

Your ability to select your seat during the request process is limited to Window, Aisle or Adjacent seat preference. We will request your seat preference with the airline when you make your reservation; however, we are not able to guarantee your preference will be assigned.

If you would like to change your assigned seats, or to select specific seats, we recommend that you visit your airline's website to view up-to-date seat maps or check-in early for your flight and speak with an airline customer service representative.

Please note that some airlines may charge a fee for seat assignments made directly with an airline representative. To avoid these charges, we recommend using the airline's website to request your seat assignments. When visiting an airline website, refer to the confirmation number provided on your itinerary.

We will be implementing fully functional seat maps in the future, which will enable you to select your exact seats when you make your purchase. Please look for this functionality when you make your future airline reservations with us.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Keep us updated as to what you decide to do and/or if we can be of further help.

[whataboutbob]

Thanks, thereuare. I think I'd stumbled across that on Priceline's website before but assumed it was for the retail airfare purchases. If it covers the NYOP airfares, then that would be great.

I think I'm going to chance it and bid later this evening or tomorrow. I'll certainly update this thread once I've booked the airfare--either via Priceline or an airline at retail price.

And I'll certainly use the PRICELINE link you provided. Thanks again!

[whataboutbob]

Quick update--I attempted to bid last night on Priceline but had no luck up to the $300 mark. Surfed over to Hotwire who had a Limited Rate fare of $334 but the flight back was a red-eye.

So, I did some checking and found a pretty good deal via American Airlines flying out of BNA, which is only about an hour farther away from us than SDF. Using the 5% off promo code from my Entertainment Book, I booked both flights with awesome flight times (less than 7 hours of travel time each way) for $335.60 per ticket including taxes & fees. Not bad considering a similar itinerary out of SDF would cost about $198 more than that per ticket. That's a savings of nearly $400. Yay!

Overall, I'm pretty pleased. Now let's hope the plane doesn't get grounded. :)